Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (May 7, 2010) Nova Southeastern University head baseball coach Michael Mominey collected his 300th career victory as head coach at NSU as the Sharks defeated Lynn 12-7 in Sunshine State Conference play on Friday evening at the NSU Baseball Complex. Mominey now stands 300-226 as the Sharks head coach while NSU is now 33-21 on the season and 13-9 in SSC play. Lynn falls to 16-35-1 on the season and 6-16 in SSC play.
The Sharks jumped on Lynn starter Thomas Kahnle early, scoring four times in the bottom of the first inning. Senior outfielder Brayan Valencia (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) had an RBI single while junior designated hitter Haven FitzSimmonds (Loxahatchee, Fla.) slammed a three run homer.
NSU added two more runs in the bottom of the second inning to lead 6-0. Outfielder Nikko Echevarria (So., Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia) had a sacrifice fly and Valencia added another RBI with a groundout.
After Lynn closed to within 6-2, the Sharks scored once in the fifth inning on a RBI single by Echevarria to take a 7-2 lead. Echevarria extended his hitting streak to 17 games with the hit.
The Fighting Knight would score twice in the sixth inning and once in the seventh inning before NSU exploded for five runs in the bottom of the seventh to lead 12-5. Senior second baseman Eric McCans (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) had a two RBI single while FitzSimmonds bashed his second three-run homer of the game.
FitzSimmonds led NSU at the plate, going 3-5 with three runs scored, two home runs and six runs batted in. McCans and outfielder Matt Seese (Jr., Ocala, Fla.) also had three hits. McCans went 3-5 with a run scored and two RBI while Seese was 3-5 with two runs scored. Junior shortstop Luis Penate (Miami, Fla.) and junior first baseman Dusty Maggs (Satellite Beach, Fla.) had two hits apiece in the winning effort.
Junior starting pitcher Nick Avila (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) earned the win to improve to 7-5 on the season. He allowed five runs, four earned in six and one-third innings of work. Relievers Ralph Pena (Fr., Miami, Fla.) and Sean Tighe (So., Hobe Sound, Fla.) pitched the final two and two-third innings to secure the victory.
The Sharks and Fighting Knights will conclude regular season play with a SSC doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 8th at the NSU Baseball Complex.
